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Put Ethics Before Desire for Power, Former Australian Deputy PM Says
Jakarta Globe | December 03, 2011

Former Australia Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson at Pelita Harapan University on Friday. Former Australia Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson at Pelita Harapan University on Friday.
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padt
10:15am Dec 5, 2011

DrDez, morality - if you take Aristotle as a guide - is practical reasoning based on virtue. As you say, difficult to reason and discern virtue when the bar is set low.

DrDez
9:56am Dec 5, 2011

padt

whilst I agree 100% with your comment - I must say there are a large number of Indonesians who live a decent life based on good ethics and morality - these tend to also err towards displaying social and personal responsibility.

What is pertinent however - even with these fellows - is the baseline. The point from which they make a judgement tends to be incredibly low. This opens up a great debate, what is morality for example... We could talk about it forever, legislate, enforce and still a great number of Indonesians who preach piety and morality will still be serial offenders. One has to wonder is there a gene?


padt
9:05am Dec 5, 2011

GBU, while your distinctions are important - and that it is a good idea to teach both civic responsibility (not propaganda and false nationalism!) and ethics to children - and I would put a case for morality too - there is a fallacy out there that if you teach morality to kids and if you teach them ethics and if you tach them social responsibility - they will turn out to be morally upright, socially responsible and ethical.

Not so.

Children learn to be moral and ethical and socially responsible largely by watching their parents and mentors and role models. Mentors and role models - politicians,teachers, parents?

What chance of that happening then in Indonesia where the politicians are liars, the judges are liars, the police are liars and to do business means there is slim chance you will be able to strike an honest deal with all rip offs excused as 'cultural'?

Its frightful to wake up each morning and realise that basic truthfulness and honesty are absent from the national psyche.


Good,Bad and Ugly
6:50am Dec 5, 2011

Keep in mind that morality and ethics are two entirely different concepts and at times may be at opposite extremes of each other.

Morality is founded on social norms generally controlled by the ruling religious mores.

However ethics is based on scientific methods also utilising the consideration of all stakeholders in a fair and just analysis.

Course in ethics and social responsibility needs to be taught from grade school, not religious instruction and nationalism.

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Despite an often uneasy relationship between politics and ethics, future leaders must put morality before the lust for power, former Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson told young Indonesians on Friday.

In the face of global financial crisis and political uncertainties, more and more people have abandoned moral values and sold their integrity, Anderson said in a public lecture hosted by Pelita Harapan University (UPH).

He recalled a time when he was a junior member of the Australian Parliament and was asked by a fellow lawmaker to go for a drive.

“I noticed that the mileage indicator on the dashboard was blank. He was hiding it. He said ‘I do have many journeys but I don’t see the true mileage,’ ” Anderson told the audience of more than 200 students. “I could never put my trust in people who showed this kind of attitude.”

Anderson, 55, served as deputy prime minister from 1999 to 2005. He was acting prime minister during the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Aceh, when he secured more than $1 billion in aid for Indonesia.

In June 2005 he resigned from his ministerial position and as leader of the rural-based National Party for health reasons.

Speaking about the media, he said that while outlets were always keen boost the audience, the press could promote integrity among the young generation.

“The press in the country needs to reward integrity, otherwise you will discourage good people from trying,” he said, when asked about corruption in Indonesia.

UPH President Gary Miller said that Indonesians were provided with an abundance of news about scandals and corruption involving government officials and businesspeople.